French Coffee Buttercream

Yup: French coffee buttercream… You saw this one coming right? I know the hint I left you guys in my last post wasn’t very subtle 😉

Anyway, coffee French buttercream. Or coffee French buttercream, whatever you want to call it… It goes (way) too far to say that I live for this stuff, but this might just be my favorite, favorite buttercream flavor in the whole wide world! And if you’ve tried my recipe for Dark Chocolate American Buttercream and Peanut Butter ‘n Cookie Buttercream, you know that says something!

I’ve shared another version of this recipe before, about one year ago, when I was experimenting how I could best make French buttercream salmonella-safe, but I just had to share this amazing coffee buttercream again. This stuff is sooooo good! It’s luxuriously velvety and silky, with a delicious coffee flavor. Somehow, the richness of the French buttercream pairs beautifully with coffee.

But I already said that in my last post, didn’t I?

Well, let’s keep it short then. All you really need to know is that this buttercream is amazing and that you just have to try it. Besides, my next post is about a killer (killer!) cake I made with it: a delicious Hazelnut Meringue Layer Cake with Caramelized Hazelnut Clusters, so this is your chance to start reading up on one element of the recipe! I’m telling you, that Hazelnut Meringue Layer Cake (of which you can just see the stacked layers in the photo below) is the perfect way to welcome fall. Because hello, it’s September, and that means apples, pumpkins and falling leaves.

Cliché… I know.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind it if summer suddenly decided to stick around a little longer, especially since I’ve spent most of the summer slaving behind my laptop, coming up with difficult linking words for my thesis and other academic stuff I can’t even remember right now.

Oh, by the way, that thesis? I was right: my supervisor did think it was brilliant, so in the end all I had to do was print it out, bind it and hand it in! Oh, and guess what? Results are in, and… I’M NOW OFFICIALLY A MASTER OF ARTS! I’m so happy! 😀

Let’s celebrate with French coffee buttercream! Which is just as good straight out of the bowl as it is on hazelnutty layer cake.

Up next, that amazing cake! Which I wouldn’t mind eating for breakfast every day from now, as long as it’s served with a side of peanut butter toast…

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This recipe contains raw eggs. You can make this buttercream salmonella-safe by following the instructions in this post. Just use the ingredients listed below. For tips and tricks on how to make French buttercream, take a look at this post.

French Coffee Buttercream

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

23 mins

 

Makes about 400g, or 2 cups of buttercream.

Author: The Tough Cookie

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 100g (or ½ cup) granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 5 large egg yolks (or 85g, about ⅓ cup)
• 226g (or 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Dissolve the coffee in one tablespoon of hot water. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring with a metal spoon until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear. Crank up the heat to medium-high and allow syrup to come to a boil.
3. In the meantime, place yolks in a medium-sized, heatproof bowl and mix (with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment) until thick and foamy.
4. Once the syrup has come to a boil, clip on a candy (or sugar) thermometer. Cook until the syrup reaches 114°C/238°F, then immediately remove from heat and slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the bowl with the yolks, mixing continuously to prevent the yolks from scrambling. Don't pour the syrup onto the whisk, or the syrup may splatter against the sides of the bowl (or into your face!). Instead, aim for a spot close to the whisk.
5. Once all the syrup has been added, keep mixing until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch and the pâte à bombe (aka: yolk meringue) has cooled down to room temperature.
6. Once the pâte à bombe is cool, you can either incorporate the butter using the ‘beaten butter method’ or the ‘cubed butter method’ *. I prefer the beaten butter method.
7. To incorporate the butter using the beaten butter method, beat the butter in another medium-sized bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the cooled pate au bombe one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, add the vanilla and the dissolved coffee and mix for another 5 minutes, or until the buttercream looks smooth and creamy.
8. Use immediately or store in an airtight container or a zipper bag in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to two months. To use buttercream that has either been refrigerated or frozen, first allow to come to room temperature then beat until smooth and spreadable again. Cakes or cupcakes decorated with buttercream generally keep up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
9. Always allow buttercream to come to room temperature before serving! Otherwise you'll miss out on that velvety mouth feel...

Notes

* To incorporate the butter using the cubed butter method, start adding the butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, mix for another 5 minutes, or until the buttercream looks smooth and creamy. If the buttercream separates, just keep mixing like you mean business and the buttercream will come together again.

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